Zero calorie sweetener linked to blood clots and risk of heart disease, study finds

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Zero calorie sweetener linked to blood clots and risk of heart disease, study finds

By Sandee LaMotte, CNN
5 minute read
Updated 8:09 AM EDT, Thu August 8, 2024

(CNN) — Consuming a drink with erythritol — an artificial sweetener used to add bulk to stevia and monk fruit and to sweeten low-carb keto products — more than doubled the risk of blood clotting in 10 healthy people, according to a new pilot study.

Clots can break off blood vessels and travel to the heart, triggering a heart attack, or to the brain, triggering a stroke. Previous research has linked erythritol to a higher risk of stroke, heart attack and death.

“What is remarkable is that in every single subject, every measure of platelet responsiveness (clotting) went up following the erythritol ingestion,” said lead study author Dr. Stanley Hazen, director of the Center for Cardiovascular Diagnostics and Prevention at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner Research Institute.

Consuming a drink with an equal amount of glucose, or sugar, did not affect blood platelet activity in another group of 10 people, said Hazen, who is also the Jan Bleeksma chair in vascular cell biology and atherosclerosis at the Cleveland Clinic. ... “This is the first direct head-to-head comparison of the effects of ingesting glucose versus ingesting erythritol on multiple different measures of platelet function,” Hazen said. “Glucose doesn’t impact clotting, but erythritol does.”

{snip}

[no_hypocrisy]

1. Is erythritol used in Diet Coke?

Asking for a friend . . . . .

[True Dough]

2. Thankfully

I'm not 10 healthy people. I'm just one moderately healthy fellow.

Don't take away my stevia!

[Joinfortmill]

3. Read the entire article, folks.

[hlthe2b]

4. Hypothesis-generating only. Still sugar alcohols whether erythritol, xylitol, mannitol., malitol, sorbitol., etc

have other well-documented issues--most commonly their diarrheal/laxative effects, intestinal gas, nausea for some and likely others.

So, as with all things, caveat emptor. On that score, the abysmal use of erythritol in the TRUVIA product (Cargill plus Coca-Cola joint venture) that is widely advertised as "PURE STEVIA" (no, it is not) just so they could get a trademark, which true pure stevia does not allow you to do-- should be widely publicized. Most people believe the advertising and think it is pure stevia (which no studies have proven to be anything but safe).

If you want pure stevia, there are some generic products, but the only brand product I know of is Sweetleaf Stevia. Even if you don't believe erythritol to be problematic, why reinforce the greedy big business interests of Cargill+Coke in misleading Americans with their advertising?

[Joinfortmill]

5. Very informative. Thanks much.

[Clouds Passing]

6. The actual ground leaf of the stevia plant is available, which is natural.

I use it in teas and such. It does not have the bitter taste of processed Stevia. Although it does not dissolve like sugar.

[lark]

9. Thanks for the tip.

I use Truvia, generally 4 packs a day but sometimes 6, but will try Sweetleaf. Damn, I like the taste of Truvia a lot, no weird aftertaste!

[thesquanderer]

11. re:" sugar alcohols whether erythritol, xylitol, mannitol, malitol, sorbitol have...diarrheal/laxative effects, gas"

That was the particular advantage of erythritol... it was the only one of those that did not have that particular side-effect. Its waste byproduct went out the other way instead (urine). I believe it is also the only one of those that is naturally occurring, too.

[hlthe2b]

12. It had LESS of those side effects--not zero. 10% of erythritol is still fermented/metabolized in the lower

intestine, leading to issues in those sensitive. I know. I see patients in the ER with severe side effects from eating too much of these products (and yes, that includes erythritol) --granted with seemingly minor issues compared to the explosion of issues in some patients related to the Wegovy/Ozempic/GLP-1 drugs--(the less common but severe side effects are mind-boggling to those who were not warned about them).

Don't believe someone that sees it daily, then read this notice from this review committee, which while generally underscoring the RELATIVE safety of erythritol compared to other sugar alcohols clearly states what I mention above--even while including the input of General Mills (conflict of interest) researchers:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9824470/

In general, excessive intake is of sugar alcohols is associated with undesirable gastrointestinal effects, including nausea, abdominal bloating, and diarrhea. These side effects are attributed to the fact that sugar alcohols are poorly absorbed, thus they induce an osmotic effect and water retention in the intestine [25]. In addition, unabsorbed polyols can undergo fermentation by intestinal microbiota resulting in gas formation. However, most of an erythritol load is absorbed with relatively minimal amount reaching the colon [37]. Consequently, erythritol is better tolerated and is associated with less gastrointestinal side effects than sorbitol and xylitol at comparable doses [37]. The tolerance upper limits for erythritol are higher than for other polyols (0.66 gm/kg/day in men and 0.80 gm/kg/day in women) [39]. However, larger doses (1 gm/kg/day) are reported to be well-tolerated [40].

[Iggo]

19. Small sample group. Quadruple dose.

[Farmer-Rick]

7. Good to know

I need to stop using it then. I have a tendency to getting blot clots. I use this to avoid sugar in an effort to keep my weight down.

Aspartame, which is found in most diet sodas, makes my muscles ache or maybe if flairs up my arthritis pain. But whatever it does it is not pleasant. So, that sweetener is out.

I guess I kind of knew the newer artificial sweeteners were just as bad,

But this study is far from definitive. It was conducted on only 10 people. And we all know what small sample sizes can do to skewed results.

[IronLionZion]

8. I've been avoiding sweeteners in general for health reasons

artificial sweeteners can mess with gut bacteria and insulin levels too. I don't put anything in my coffee most days.

[lark]

10. Wish I could take coffee black, but absolutely can't.

The acid tears my stomach up. I always use milk and Truvia, but will need to change that. I don't have blood clotting issues that I know of, but why risk it.

[IronLionZion]

13. Look for low acid beans, like from Sumatra

Otherwise, any dark roast should burn off some acid rather than light or medium roasts. Then you can also look into making cowboy coffee, with a hard rolling boil that burns off acid.

Cow's milk on it's own should help neutralize acid and has natural sugar in it.

[lark]

15. Yeah, I'm considering trying to wean myself off sweeteners altogether and try coffee with just milk.

It doesn't taste "bad", I'm just used to and like sweet. I don't like the taste of dark roast, I like weak Guatemalan the best. I'm going to try some pure Stevia and see if I like it that way and if not will try to wean myself off all sweetners. I really love my current coffee but sad that Truvia is bad, so I have to change.

[duhneece]

14. Dang it. I use erythritol in coffee, chocolate chips, ice cream

Even my yogurt.
I can cut down, not cut out entirely

[OldBaldy1701E]

16. At this point in my life, just about everything is bad for me for some reason or another.

It is a question of what one is willing to put up with in their last bit of time here. And, since coffee is how I save the world, it will just have to be what it is.

Because if I don't get my coffee in the morning...

As my favorite button says:

'Coffee First... THEN, your mundane bullshit'

[IbogaProject]

17. All of the artificial sweeteners are sketchy

I'm type 1 diabetic I gave up artificial sweeteners back in 1990. I had a toxic cross reaction between the brand new crystal lite and lucky charms. My sugar had dipped as I thought I'd consumed regular powdered drink mix. I was in college and was consuming things in our communal kitchen. Yes soda and sweet tea are hard to replace but simple morning coffee or tea are fine with a little sugar. Any one with Type 2 diabetes or simple insulin resistance can improve that system by taking some Melatonin at night, I recommend a lozenge or sublingual and find one without vitamin b-6. Melatonin up-regulates insulin receptors. That way you can have better natural response to glucose spikes. And there are questions about stevia's safety with daily use, it can affect you gut biome. It is more for treats like cakes and such.

[angrychair]

18. Never got into alternative sweeteners

But I don't eat a lot of sweets and I use a little honey in my coffee and making my cold tea. I cannot actually think of anything I used sugar in a long time.